10 Tips to Achieve a Conversational Tone in Your Content
A conversational tone is a surefire way to improve your content. It’s all about making your audience feel like they’re having a real conversation with you, which can be tricky!
In this article, we share a few simple tricks that you can use to make sure your content sounds conversational and personable rather than stuffy and unapproachable.
And they’re so easy—you’ll be able to get them down in no time.
Read also: Determining the Fair Cost: How Much to Pay a Writer for an Article
Let’s begin!
1. Write as if you’re speaking to your neighbor
When writing for your blog, think about how you would speak or explain something to your neighbor. Instead of talking at him/her, try to imagine that you’re talking with him/her.
You’re not writing for your boss or an audience of thousands—you’re writing for one person who will read what you’ve written and respond to it.
When writing, ask yourself:
- How would I tell this if I was talking to my neighbor?
- What would I say?
- …
Continue asking questions until you’ve figured out the best way to communicate your point. That’s how you’ll develop a conversational tone in your writing!
This leads us to the second tip…
2. Focus on the reader, not on you
This may seem obvious, but it’s worth noting because many writers get too caught up in their heads when they write.
They start thinking about how this piece will help them advance their career or get more clients and then lose sight of their audience reading what they’ve written.
You can combat this by reminding yourself that you’re writing for someone else who needs solving. What would happen if you could solve this problem for them? How would that make me feel?
Focusing on these questions makes room for your writing to be more genuine, honest, and authentic.
3. Tell a story and share personal anecdotes to draw your readers in
Stories are a great way to engage your audience and convey your message.
You can tell a story by describing a problem or challenge and then explaining how you overcame it. Or maybe describing how you came up with the idea that led to a solution.
You can tell stories in many different ways, such as through anecdotes or personal experiences. Still, they all have one thing in common: they involve characters who face conflict or problem and overcome it.
These stories are great because they’re relatable—they let people know that you’re just like them and understand their issues.
And if you want to tell an even better story? Make sure it’s funny!
4. Break grammar rules to make your copy as friendly and approachable
When writing, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need to write like an English professor. We’ve all been there—trying to write in a way that will impress someone with your grammar skills.
But let’s be honest: no one cares about your grammar skills. They care about what you have to say and how you say it.
So forget everything you learned in school about perfecting every sentence, and just start writing.
Here are some easy tips to make your copy sound more casual and friendly:
Use contractions
A contraction is a shortening of two words: “I am” becomes “I’m,” and “you are” becomes “you’re.”
They make your copy sound more conversational and friendly—and they’re normal in casual conversation!
Use sentence fragments
They’ll add impact and help readers feel what you feel.
Instead of using them all over the place, try using them here and there when you want to add emphasis or make a point stand out. It’ll help keep your writing from sounding too stilted and boring—and that’s what we’re all about!
Use active verbs
Instead of saying “we have,” say “we do.” Instead of saying “we have been,” say “we are.”
Active verbs will help keep your writing fresh and engaging!
Use emojis (where appropriate)
Emojis are a great way to express your personality and can also be really useful for making your content more conversational.
If you’re using emojis in the proper context, they can help add some fun and make you seem more relatable.
Use them sparingly—a few here, and there will go a long way!
5. Use inclusive words like ‘we’ and ‘you’
Include the reader in your content using inclusive words like “we” and “you.” That way, it’s not just a one-way conversation between you and your readers—it becomes a dialogue between equals.
When you use “you,” it means that you put your readers at the center of the conversation. It allows them to feel like they’re part of the experience and can even help them feel like they’re talking to an old friend or someone they trust.
Make sure you don’t overdo it, though—too much of this can make your writing seem unnatural or forced. You want it to sound natural and comfortable, so use it sparingly!
6. Keep it in the first person
If you want to sound more conversational and less like a lecture, try using personal pronouns like “I”, “me”, “we”, “our”… instead of words like “the company”, “the business”.
You want your readers to feel like they’re talking to one person, not a faceless corporation. It’s a great way to show them that you’re on their side—you understand their problems and are trying to help them solve them.
“We did this thing.” Or “I did this thing.” Or even “I am a human being doing this thing right now.”
We promise: it works!
7. Don’t use jargon or overly complex language
Your audience doesn’t want to spend time figuring out what you say. They want to be able to just read and understand what you’re saying. So put yourself in their shoes, and make sure your content is straightforward to understand.
You should also avoid using the passive voice. Instead of saying, “The sales team was trained by a consultant,” try something like, “A consultant trained the sales team.” This makes it sound more conversational and less like you’re trying to impress someone with your fancy words!
Finally, don’t use jargon or industry terms unless necessary. If your content is too difficult for readers to understand, they’ll just stop reading it altogether!
8. Break up ideas into small, digestible chunks
When people read online, they don’t typically read long paragraphs. They skim and scan, looking for the main idea and only reading enough to get a feel for what you’re saying.
By breaking up ideas into smaller sentences and paragraphs, you’re making it easier for readers to understand what you’re trying to say.
9. Write short sentences to increase readability
In the same idea, shorter sentences are easier to understand, which means your reader can focus on the important parts of what you’re saying rather than getting distracted by extraneous details.
The average adult human has a working memory of about seven items, so when you look at a sentence with more than seven words, it becomes difficult for your brain to remember the whole thing. You have to keep rereading it to refresh your memory as you go along, making reading time-consuming and exhausting.
When you use short sentences, however, your reader doesn’t have to work as hard to process what they’re seeing. They can focus on one idea at a time and get a better understanding of the content itself.
10. Use empathy to connect with readers
Think about it: When you’re reading an article or watching a video, do you want to feel like someone writing it is someone who understands? Or do you want to feel like they’re just trying to sell something?
The answer is pretty clear, right? You want them to be understanding and friendly. That’s why content creators need to use empathy in their writing.
Empathy is all about being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
When you can empathize with your readers, you’ll be able to relate on a deeper level and understand their struggles. Once you do this, it will be much easier for you to write something they need and want.
Takeaway: conversational content is much more engaging than traditional content
When you’re writing, the last thing you want to do is talk down to your audience.
Conversational content means you’re talking to your audience like they’re your friend, and it’s a great way to make them feel like they’re part of the conversation.
Readers are much more likely to respond to your content if they feel they’re being spoken to directly.
Finally, conversational content allows people to make their own decisions by giving them more information than they need to decide how they want to live their lives.
If you’re looking for high-quality conversational content for your blog, get in touch with us! We’d love to help you find the perfect voice for your brand.